Lieselotte, having led Amelia away in a somewhat forceful manner, headed toward her own home. She had finally set down Amelia, whom she had been carrying until a moment ago, but the girl was acting noticeably restless.
"Um..."
"Is something the matter?"
Her expression was blank, her voice devoid of emotion.
The very structure of her face was as exquisite as a doll’s. Amelia felt a flicker of hesitation at her behavior, which seemed almost inhuman.
"I just wanted to say... thank you for going out of your way for me."
"No. I don't mind. I had wanted to meet you for some time, anyway."
"What do you mean by—?"
"We're here."
Without answering Amelia’s question, they arrived at their destination.
The building stood on the west side of the Central District. It was a brick structure with a modern aesthetic. According to Lieselotte, she owned the entire property.
"Go on, step inside."
"Excuse me."
With a polite bow, Amelia entered. Following behind Lieselotte, she looked around, only to find...
"...Um, is it just a desk?"
"Hm? Yes. My laboratory is in the basement, so I generally don't use the other rooms. By the way, you’re my first guest."
"I-I see..."
Amelia was bewildered.
In the center of the spacious room sat a single table and chair in total isolation. Everything else was empty and desolate.
Though surprised by the unusual space, Amelia sat in the chair for the time being.
"I recently purchased a tea set. I’ll brew some tea, so please wait a moment."
"Understood."
With a slight lilt to her voice, Lieselotte headed toward the kitchen. Driven by a recent change of heart, she had been attempting to challenge herself with various new experiences.
The tea set was part of that endeavor.
Normally, she had no need for such things, living a life sustained mostly by water. However, she had bought the set thinking that the process of making tea might be an interesting experiment.
But a moment later...
The sound of porcelain hitting the floor and shattering echoed through the room.
"Wait, are you okay?"
Startled, Amelia stood up and hurried toward the kitchen.
There, she found a tea cup reduced to shards.
"Hmm... brewing tea is quite difficult, it seems."
Watching Lieselotte fold her arms and nod thoughtfully in front of the broken cup, Amelia thought to herself:
As I suspected, she really is a strange person...
She had felt it since their meeting at the cafe, but the woman seemed entirely detached from the world. Amelia’s first impression had been more or less correct.
"I'll do it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I’m used to brewing tea."
As the daughter of one of the Three Great Noble Families, one might assume Amelia had no experience with domestic tasks like brewing tea or cooking. However, thanks to Eleonora’s education, she had been trained to handle at least the basics.
Amelia boiled the water and warmed the remaining cups. Efficiently, she prepared the tea from the leaves. Her movements were practiced, and the tea was ready in no time.
Taking care, she carried the teapot and cups back to the table and poured for both of them.
"Here you go."
"Oh! Amelia, you’re very domestic. You’ll surely make a fine wife one day."
"...Eh! D-do you really think so?"
"I do. I truly believe that."
Lieselotte offered a faint, gentle smile.
When Amelia heard those words, there was no doubt as to who she pictured as her future partner.
"Now then. Let us move on to the main topic."
Lieselotte crossed her legs and got down to business.
"The Butterfly Effect. It first manifested during the Magics Chevalier, didn't it?"
"Yes."
"And have you used it excessively since then?"
"I haven't. Ray told me not to."
"That's good. Magic that interferes with causality places far too much of a burden on the user. Even I rarely use it."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. My attribute is Fiction. Let me show you a bit of its essence."
Tap, tap. Lieselotte tapped the desk and, surprisingly, knocked her cup over on purpose. The cup fell on its side, and tea began to spill across the table.
"Ah... wait, it’s spilling!"
Amelia panicked, but in that same instant, she felt the telltale sign of magic being activated.
《Prima Materia = Encoding = Material Code》
《Material Code = Decoding》
《Material Code = Processing = Distortion》
《Embodiment = Causality》
"—Collapse."
She whispered the name in a low voice.
"Spilling? It isn't spilling anymore, is it?"
"Eh..."
Amelia’s face went blank with shock.
The cup that had been lying on its side, leaking tea, had returned to its upright position. It was as if time itself had been wound backward.
"Did time go back...?"
"Strictly speaking, it wasn't a time-reversal phenomenon. In modern magic, interfering with time is still impossible."
Raising her index finger, she knocked the cup over once more. The tea began to spread across the desk again. However...
"See? It's back to normal."
"Instead of linking cause and effect, are you making it so the result doesn't manifest in the first place?"
"Oh! As expected of someone who has manifested causality magic. You seem to understand it intuitively."
Lieselotte’s voice took on a rare, upbeat tone.
Originally, magic that could interfere with causality belonged to Lieselotte alone. But now, Amelia was the second sorcerer capable of such a feat. Finding someone like herself made her feel a sense of kinship toward the girl.
"My essence is distortion. I distort everything in this world—matter, phenomena. Even causality. Fiction is merely the result that follows as a consequence."
"I see... so it's the opposite of my ability."
"Exactly. However, magic is a matter of interference force. Amelia, try using the Butterfly Effect to create the result of the cup falling over."
"Understood."
With a short nod, Amelia immediately activated her magic.
《Prima Materia = Encoding = Material Code》
《Material Code = Decoding》
《Material Code = Processing = Aitia = Constitutive Qualia = Formal Qualia = Subjective Qualia = Final Qualia》
《Embodiment = Causality》
"Butterfly Effect."
A single butterfly manifested. As it took flight, the cup in front of them began to tip over on its own, as if it possessed a will of its own.
"Collapse."
Lieselotte’s magic intervened in Amelia’s causality. When two spells interfered with the same chain of causality, which one would prevail?
The answer was immediate.
The cup sat there as if nothing had happened, perfectly still.
The butterfly produced by Amelia’s magic dissolved back into Prima Materia, leaving only a scattering of deep red particles in the air.
"Do you understand now?"
"It activated... but it felt like only the result was excised. That’s the sensation I got."
"Good. You really do have a high magic aptitude."
"T-thank you."
Being praised by one of the Seven Grand Sorcerers made Amelia feel a spark of joy. However, she didn't let it go to her head. She understood that such formidable magic always came with a corresponding risk.
"We interfere with causality. However, causality cannot be seen with the eye. That means we are interfering with something we merely define as causality. What do you think that something is?"
"Something we define as causality...?"
"Yes. Both you and I access it unconsciously. This is merely my hypothesis, but..."
Lieselotte took a light sip of her tea. After a brief pause, she began to explain her theory.
"Akasha. We are likely interfering with Akasha itself."
"By Akasha, do you mean the place said to contain all the records of the world?"
Amelia knew the name. She had heard it in old legends and fairy tales.
"You’re well-informed. Yes. Akasha is a space, an existence, and a concept. In short, it’s not something we fully understand. But as it appears in ancient literature, it is of vital importance to sorcerers. It’s said that sorcerers produce the phenomena of magic by rewriting the information stored there."
"Then, does that mean every sorcerer is interfering with Akasha?"
"That would be the case."
Amelia brought her hand to her mouth.
She had never heard anything like this—not even from Ray. But when she thought about it, many things seemed to click into place, even if it was just an intuitive guess.
"A sorcerer's strength is, ultimately, their interference force with Akasha. That is my hypothesis. And causality exists within Akasha as well. The cause and effect that arise in this world—we may be manipulating them through Akasha."
"I see. That’s a fascinating theory."
"Well, it is still just a hypothesis. I haven't even written a paper on it yet. There’s still so much more information to gather."
"Does Ray know about this...?"
"He knows. In fact, his interference force with Akasha is likely the greatest in the world. No one can surpass him."
Ray White.
Amelia had known him as a friend, but looking back, there were simply too many anomalies surrounding him. The most prominent was the fact that an Ordinary like him possessed the magic aptitude required to become one of the Seven Grand Sorcerers.
Hearing this explanation led her to an inevitable thought.
Maybe Ray still has secrets he hasn't told us.
"Regarding him... well. It isn't my place to say. You should ask the man himself."
"Yes. I understand."